I’ve Seen the Fall of Man: Advent East of Eden

The Genesis story of the Fall of Man is mirrored in the Nativity. Unlike Adam at the Tree of Knowledge, Jesus did not deem equality with God a thing to be grasped.

A TSW reader sent me a recent article from Crisis Magazine, “Who will Rescue the Lost Sheep of the Lonely Revolution?” by the outstanding writer, Anthony Esolen. It’s an admonitory parable about the lost sheep of the Gospel and the once dead prodigal son of another parable. What exactly did Jesus mean by “lost” and “dead”?

Mr. Esolen raises questions about controversies I have taken up in recent weeks, most notably in “Coping With the Pope Who Would not Be King.” That post had a focus on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, so central to the Gospel, but Esolen makes a point missing from the Synod debate:

“That is why you came among us, to call sinners back to the fold. Not to pet and stroke them for being sinners, because that is what you mean by ‘lost,’ and what you mean by ‘dead’ when you ask us to consider the young man who had wandered into the far country. The father in your parable wanted his son alive, not dead.”

In twenty years in prison, I have seen first hand the fall of man and its effects on the lives of the lost. No good father serves them by inviting them home then leaving them lost, or worse, dead; deadened to the Spirit calling them out of the dark wood of error. Mr. Esolen has seen this too:

“…you say your hearts beat warmly for the poor. Prisoners are poor to the point of invisibility… Go and find out what the Lonely Revolution has done to them. Well may you plead for cleaner cells and better food for prisoners, and more merciful punishment. Why do you not plead for cleaner lives and better nourishment for their souls when they are young, before the doors of the prison shut upon them? Who speaks for them?”

Here in prison, writing from the East of Eden, I live alongside the daily consequences of the Fall of Man. It will take more than a Synod on the Family to see the panoramic view I now see. Mr. Esolen challenges our shepherds: “Venturing forth into the margins, my leaders?… [Then] leave your parlors and come to the sheepfold.”

ADAM IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

Adrift in controversy, we might do well this Advent to ponder the Genesis story of Creation and the Fall of Adam. I found some fascinating things there when I took a good long look. The story of Adam is filled with metaphor and symbolism that frames all that comes after it in the story of God’s intervention with human history.

Accounts of man created from the earth were common in Ancient Near Eastern texts that preceded the Book of Genesis. The Hebrew name for the first human is “ha-Adam” while the Hebrew for “made from earth” is “ha-Adama” which some have interpreted as “man from earth.” Thus Adam does not technically have a name in the Genesis account. It is simply “man.” His actions are on behalf of all.

As common as the story of man from the earth was in the texts of Ancient Near Eastern lore, the Biblical version has something found no where else. In Genesis (2:7) God formed man from the ground “and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” And not only life, but soul, life in the image and likeness of God. The Breath of God, or the Winds of God, is an element repeated in Sacred Scripture in a pattern I described in a Pentecost post, “Inherit the Wind.”

God will set the man from earth in Eden. Then in the following verse in Genesis (2:8) God establishes in Eden the very instruments of man’s fall: the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. So what exactly was Adam’s “Original Sin?”

When I wrote “Science and Faith and the Big Bang Theory of Creation” (Oh … go ahead and yawn!) I delved into the deeper meaning of the first words in Scripture spoken by God, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Saint Augustine saw in that command the very moment God created the angelic realm, a sort of spiritual Big Bang. What is clear is that spiritual life was created first and the material world followed. For all we know – and, trust me, science knows no better – “Let there be light” was the spark that caused the Big Bang.

You might note that the creation of light preceded the creation of anything in the physical world that might generate light such as the Sun and the stars. Augustine then considered the very next line in Genesis (1:4), “God separated the light from the darkness,” and saw in it the moment the angels fell and evil entered the cosmos. It was only then in the Genesis account that construction of the material universe got underway.

When God created a man from the earth, a precedent for “The Fall” had already taken place. God then took ha-adama, Adam, and commanded him (2:16) to eat freely of the bounty of Eden, “but of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day you eat of it, you shall die.” Die not in the sense of physical death – for Adam lived on – but in the spiritual sense, the same sort of death from which the father of another famous parable receives his son “Your brother was dead, and now he is alive” (Luke 15:32).

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is what is called a “merism” in Scripture. It acts as a set of bookends which include all the volumes in between. Another example of a merism is in Psalm 139:2, “You know when I sit and when I stand.” In other words, “you know everything about me.” The Tree of Knowledge, therefore, is access to the knowledge of God, and Adam’s grasping for it is the height of hubris, of pride, of self-serving disobedience.

In the end, Adam opts for disobedience when faced with an opportunity that serves his own interests. From the perspective of human hindsight, man was just being man. In an alternate version found in Ezekiel (28:11-23), God said to the man:

“You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of splendor, and the guardian cherub drove you out.”

God’s clothing Adam and Eve – who is so named only after The Fall – before expelling them is a conciliatory gesture, an accommodation to their human limitations. Casting them out of Eden is not presented solely as God’s justice, but also God’s mercy to protect them from an even more catastrophic fall, “Lest he put forth his hand and take [grasp] also from the Tree of Life” (Genesis 3:22).

JESUS IN THE FORM OF GOD

The Church’s liturgy has always been conscious of the theological link between the fall of Adam and the birth of Christ. For evidence, look no further than the Mass readings for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. I also find a stunning reflection of the Eden story in a hymn from the very earliest Christian church – perhaps a liturgical hymn – with which Saint Paul demonstrates to the Church at Philippi the mission, purpose, and mind of Christ. “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves which was in Christ Jesus…”

“…Who though he was in the form of God did not deem equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed the name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:3-11).

The two accounts above – the story of Adam fallen from the image and likeness of God and expelled from Eden, and the story of Jesus in the form of God “being born in the likeness of men” – reflect the classic dualism of Plato. A Greek philosopher in the 3rd and 4th Century B.C., the essence of Plato’s thought was his theory of image and form. Forms or universalities in the spiritual realm had imperfect reflections in the material world.

Hence, Adam is in the image of God, and falls, but Christ is in the form of God. The verses recounted by Saint Paul in Philippians point to something of cosmic consequence for the story of the Fall of Man. Man, made from the earth in the image of God grasps to be like God, and falls from grace at Eden. At Bethlehem, however, God Himself traces those steps in reverse. He comes to earth taking the image and likeness of man, and sacrifices Himself to end man’s spiritual death.

A TSW reader recently chastised me for writing in support of an alternate view of Pope Francis over recent weeks, and his gestures to extend the gaze of the Church to the peripheries of a broken world. It’s a cautious enterprise in a self-righteous world in a fallen state. Without a clear mandate from the Holy Spirit, we could lose ourselves and our souls in such an effort. Anthony Esolen expresses the danger well in the Crisis article cited above:

“Who speaks for the penitent, trying to place his confidence in a Church that cuts his heart right out because she seems to take his sins less seriously than he does.”

We can bring no one to Christ that way, but the caution should not prevent the Church from her mission to reach into the ends of the earth, to save sinners, and not just revel with the self-proclaimed already saved. Our’s is a mission extended to the fallen.

They represent the known world coming to bend their knee in the presence of Christ in the form of God born in the likeness of men at Bethlehem. Even my own aching, wounded knee must bend at that!

To the readers of These Stone Walls from Ryan A. MacDonald: Readers have been especially generous and kind in responding to our appeal for assistance with legal costs at the Federal level. It has come to my attention that State officials have filed objections to Father MacRae’s appeal in the Federal courts, and these objections required lengthy and highly detailed responses from the attorney’s representing Father MacRae. One such exchange cost $15,000 that seriously depleted available funds as the appeal continues. So, to compensate, we have raised the bar in our fundraising effort. I know that Father MacRae is most appreciative to all who have aided this effort, and that he would much prefer that many people do a little instead of just a few doing a lot. Let us hope that this could be an undertaking of the whole church. For information on how to assist, please see my post “News Alert: New Federal Appeal Filed in Father Gordon MacRae Case.”

About Fr. Gordon J. MacRae

The late Cardinal Avery Dulles and The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus encouraged Father MacRae to write. Cardinal Dulles wrote in 2005: “Someday your story and that of your fellow sufferers will come to light and will be instrumental in a reform. Your writing, which is clear, eloquent, and spiritually sound will be a monument to your trials.” READ MORE

Comments

I am tempted to send you my last 55 bucks to make that thermometer hit the top mark but that’s all I have “holding the account” ha! Please someone do it because it makes me nervous to see the goal so close and not be reached. Please pray for the return of profitable employment to my life. May be I’ll be able to make those 55 soon and help you reach your number!

QUOTE: “A TSW reader recently chastised me for writing in support of an alternate view of Pope Francis over recent weeks, and his gestures to extend the gaze of the Church to the peripheries of a broken world.”

One thing the world does not need is another Luther.

I have a friend who is such a well-behaved Catholic but still believes in Sedevacantism. He is someone who has fallen in the old sin of declaring himself a saint. Check a biblical dictionary under pharisee.

Let me explain: we are saved mostly by obedience and not by behavior:

“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Jesus is not talking about “converted” tax collectors and harlots. He did not forget to utter the qualifier but he was showing the pharisees per hyperbole that they got the whole thing wrong and it was costing them their rank and perhaps their eternal salvation.

I am not a priest nor a theologian. How is a Sedevacantist different from a Protestant? I see no difference. Luther thought that somehow God had lost control of the Church and proposed a different way. Oh well… it did not work. Now if the Holy Spirit and Christ have taken a vacation and forgot the pie in the oven, or to put a Pope in Rome… How I am going to correct such impossible problem. Because if God forgot, then God is under a circumstance, He is not divine anymore or worse: He is playing tricks with the simple after instructing them to be obedient He tricks them into sin, unless they happen to know the arcana of how a Pope is supposed to be elected. I say it’s all balderdash.

God is in charge.

God makes no mistakes.

I am a sinner. I make lots of mistakes.

I have no business checking the quality of God’s appointments. I obey, trust and go to sleep.

But if I believe that I am oh so holy that somehow I dug up the gnosis, the knowledge to see what no one can see… I have a problem, I have a real problem. I’m up the creek without a Peter.

Father G, this is the best post you ever published as far as I am concerned. Scales fell from my eyes (and I’m sure some will still fall as I reread this post in the coming days) as I go through it paragraph after paragraph. What rich theology you have here. I have questions as old as my thinking self and now they’re ebbing away! Deo gratias.

May you continue to grow in holiness and remain faithful in witnessing to all the Christs you have the privilege of living with all these years.

Hi Father Gordon!
What a lot to think about! I will be going back and rereading to absorb more because this needs to be taken in parts at a time. We can never know everything about God but it shouldn’t stop us from learning as much as we can.In learning about Him we learn about ourselves and what we should be .
Always wondered why the sin of the rebelling angels was not considered the original sin? Oh but therein may lie a future post from you? (hmmm)
God bless you all and know that prayers are offered for you daily. Jeannie

HI Father Gordon,
I am glad you are writing again. Does that mean you have your typewritter back? Or are your writing in longhand? Just curious. Either way it is good to ‘hear’ your words again.

Your artlice here about Creation and the Fall of Adam is timely (nautrally) because of the liturgical calendar. But it’s especially timely for me because I had an original (for me at least) thought about Adam’s reply to God when God questioned him about his disobediance. Adam blames God! He says, the woman YOU put here tricked me ..” He punks out and never takes responisbility for his bad choice. I have heard those words many times before but this Dec 8th at mass was the first time Adam’s words struck me that way. Imagine anyone trying that on a human king or man in authority? He’d be setting himself up for even harsher punishment. But God puts clothes on thier backs and dispite the admonishments they received, God told them about His redemption plan. Amazing , huh? God really does love man. It is amazing considering how much trouble mankind has caused both God and oursleves.

WOW! I have to agree with Fr. MacDonald. You have inspired us with this post and given me so much more knowledge and understanding about Genesis. Thank you and God Bless you Father. I pray for you, Pornchai Max and all the prisoners there.

I am so happy that finally you are speaking and we do not have to wade through another of those guest posts.

This post warrants much thought and pondering. But, for people of faith, likely the only ones who would think about and ponder this, let alone read it in the first place, we are called to absorb it not with our intellect so much, as to take it into our hearts.

Mary, Our Blessed Mother, was so filled with the Holy Spirit, to the point of bursting forth with new life in fact, that her ponderings were deep and pregnant with meaning, literally and figuratively. With her intercession and with the gift of the Holy Spirit that is available to us all, we too can ponder deeply and enter into the mysteries of our faith.

In this Advent time, we like Mary, should be pregnant, with a pregnancy in our hearts, and should reach toward Christmas Day with excitement and anticipation.

God Bless You and your fellow inmates, and all who read These Stone Walls.

Dear Fr. Gordon,
I say it again. WOW! Just, WOW! What profound insights the Lord is giving you. You ought to be teaching seminarians their Scripture courses.

Indeed, many, who ought to know better, criticise Pope Francis. Why do we always want things crystal clear and neatly packaged in a box? I think the Holy Father is right that the discussions, and even boisterous arguments, need to be brought out into the open. If not, even those with whom we disagree, and who may indeed be wrong in their thinking, will remain where they are. At least discussion, of a proper kind in the right setting, can lead to broadening one’s view and to learning. Are there risks? of course. But we believe in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. It’s ultimately in His hands, not ours. Hiding in our own camps, being self-satisfied is not the answer. Yes, go out to the peripheries and preach the Gospel. Sometimes those peripheries are in our own chanceries and parishes! Off to read Esolen’s article in full — sounds like a good one.

May God’s many blessings continue to enrich you, good Father.
in Domino,
Fr. Stuart

Perhaps another interpretation of the “original sin” is not only the disobedience to a command, but the motivation behind the action: “if you eat of the fruit, you will be like God…”. I know this is a semantic argument but the original temptation would be to be “like God” instead of God-like. How many times is the sin of humanity really a manifestation of “little gods”: Those who know “what is best” for others; or those who have a cookie cutter code for life to which others must comply or be damned to exclusion?